Keith Hides Injury
by itsgonnabemay5
Summary: Keith gets hurt in a battle but is afraid to be made fun of, so he hides it from everyone.


Keith-Ribs (for bingo)

Keith was startled by Pidge and Hunk calling his name. He had just singlehandedly fought off the bad guys on the ship when the last one threw a punch that forced him against the wall. He slid down and landed hard. He must have hit his head and blackened out for a while, too, because he realized he had awoken from sleep when he heard his friends.

He called out to them, but his voice was frail, weakened by the fiery pain that flared in his side. The guy must've hit him harder than he thought. He put a hand to his ribs and winced. "Ow," he whispered. There was definitely something wrong there. He had never felt pain like this before.

"Keith, where are you?"

Keith's eyes grew wide at the high-pitched voice. _Lance_. He couldn't let him know he was hurt. Just yesterday Lance had told the group that pain was a sign of weakness and he bragged how he never got hurt.

"What about that time when the bomb went off and you were in the healing pod all the next day?" Pidge reminded him smugly.

"Pssh," Lance said. "That was one time. Hasn't even happened since."

Everyone just rolled their eyes because of how arrogant Lance was being and just played it off as Lance being Lance. He was all talk. Keith had to keep his injury a secret if he didn't want Lance making fun of him.

Keith took in a painful breath and yelled, "Over here!" His side ached, and it burned with every breath. He began to stand up, trying to ignore the pain in his side for now. When his friends found him, they seemed to be none the wiser.

"We did it, guys," Lance said. "Allura said we need to head back to the castle."

They got into their lions and met up again in the castle. They discussed their findings on the planet and though Keith was sluggish and quiet, no one made any comments.

"I think I'm gonna head to my room. Kind of tired," Keith said. He was dying to rest and he needed to see how bad off his side really was. It was hard to know wearing all his armor.

Lance yawned. "I think I second that. Wake me if anything interesting happens. I'll be in my room."

Once Keith was alone in his room, he removed his suit, starting with his pants, and then he sat on the bed as he carefully removed the top. Moving his left arm over his head ignited a fiery shock to his side and he yelped quietly in pain. He bit his lower lip as he removed the rest of it over his head. Left with only a black t-shirt on, he was now able to check out his wound.

Preparing himself for the worst, he lifted his shirt to see that a large fist-sized purple bruise had blossomed on his lower left ribs. He prodded them gently with his fingers and gasped as it sent searing pain through his mottled chest.

He wondered how he could hide this from the others. By the looks of it, he thought they might be broken. Maybe if he could get himself into the healing pod. . . but no, it'd be too risky. It might take hours for it to heal, and he was sure to be discovered, if only for the fact that the paladins would go looking for him.

He sighed in triumph. He'd just have to suffer through this the human way. He opened the mirror in his medicine cabinet and pulled out his first aid kit. If he couldn't have the healing pod, at least he could take some pain meds. He searched through it, moving everything around, but he came out emptyhanded.

He furrowed his brows in disappointment. He couldn't ask anyone for medicine without looking suspicious. His ribs were throbbing and every time he moved, he felt the searing, sharp pain in his torso. There had to be something he could do. He searched for something that could help him in the first aid kit and he pulled out a long bandage.

He put one of the ends against his torso and began wrapping himself up. When he got to the injured area, he gasped in pain but continued going, stifling his cries in case anyone was near. When he was done, he felt a little better. His chest was stabilized and breathing still hurt, but the pain was slightly diminished.

With a renewed sense of hope, he carefully laid down in bed and tried to nap. He was awoken three hours later by a knock on his door. "Keith! Dude, time to train!"

Keith's eyes went wide. He couldn't train in this condition. When he didn't respond, Lance knocked harder. "Get up, lazy butt! I don't want to have to drag you out here."

"Leave me alone," Keith said, wincing and putting a hand to his side. He heard a noise, like his door being opened. He looked to the side, and that's exactly what happened. "Lance? How'd you get in my room?" Did he forget to lock his door?

"I've got my ways, Red," Lance said as he casually strolled through his room.

"You just walked in. I could've been indecent!" Keith yelled.

Lance's cheeks went a slight shade of pink. "Well, it's uh, I guess a uh, risk I'm willing to take!" He started walking out of the room as if embarrassed, and then added more confidently, "Meet me in the sparring room. On Allura's command."

He heard the swishing of hurried feet down the hall, letting him know he was now alone. He groaned. What was he to do now? He'd have to go or he'd never hear the end of it from Lance. He rose to his feet, the pain even more unbearable than before.

He looked at himself in the mirror and whispered, "You can do this." He went down the hall and made his way into the practice room, where he was met with Lance, Hunk, and Pidge. Hunk and Pidge were already in the middle of training, and Lance was leaning up against a wall, picking at his nails.

Lance looked up. "Oh, so he _is_ alive!"

Keith went to fold his arms but thought better of it. "So, what are we doing?"

"The usual," Lance said. "Allura said we needed to be prepared for anything and wanted us to practice fighting."

"Just be careful. I'm kinda sore." Did he really just admit that?

Lance picked up his hands and balled them into fists as he jumped around in his fighting stance. In a mocking tone, Lance said, "Oh, is the poor baby sore?" He swung a fist in the air. "Come and get me!"

Keith had no way out of this. He picked up his hands in defense as Lance moved around, darting from side to side. Lance came closer to him and clubbed him in the shoulder. Keith got in a good hit on his collarbone, jarring his injured ribs. He flinched and looked away, hoping Lance didn't see his pain.

"What's the matter, Keith? My strong body not a match for your tiny hands?" Lance laughed. Okay, so apparently, he did notice. Great.

"Shut up," Keith retorted.

Lance hit him again in his stomach, just under his damaged ribs. Keith's hand immediately hovered over his ribs, attempting to keep them from harm.

A blazing alarm rang through the air, and everyone stopped what they were doing. Allura's voice filled the room. "Paladins, Zarkon has been spotted! Return to your lions immediately!"

Everyone ran off and each took a seat in their lions. Keith was last to get in his, and he tried turning it on to join the others, but nothing was happening. "Red, what's going on? Why aren't you listening to my commands?" Keith's face was flushed with sweat. He was feeling lousier and in an extreme amount of pain.

He wiped at the sweat in his eyes, blinking away the burning sensation. "There's a battle we need to fight," he said, his voice rising in anger. "Red, I need-" Keith cried out in pain and put pressure against his hurting ribs, squeezing his eyes tightly as he rode out the pain.

"Red," he said quieter once he was feeling a little better. "Sorry I shouted." And then he realized something. "You know I'm hurt, don't you? That's why you're not letting me go."

Just when he thought he couldn't love his lion any more than he did, he surprised him. Keith got on his intercom and told Allura. "Allura, Red's not listening to me. I can't pilot him."

"What? What's wrong?" Allura said in alarm.

"I don't know," Keith lied. "I'm not sure, but he's not going anywhere."

A few moments later, Allura called in all the paladins and commanded them to return to the castle. After complaints from Lance, Allura told him and everyone else that there was no use in fighting this battle right now when Voltron couldn't be formed. They would just have to try again once everyone was all in.

"Okay, but I'm starving," Hunk interrupted. "Since we're not going to be kicking butt, can we eat dinner now?"

Everyone laughed, and within minutes, they all found themselves gathered around the table to eat.

There were lots to eat and for dessert, they had one of Hunk's creations. Someone had made a funny remark on his baking, but Keith didn't hear it. He was too absorbed in himself and trying to keep a straight face as his side throbbed in agony.

A sharp elbow to his injured ribs caused him to almost fall over and out of his chair. Lance, the one who had elbowed him, held him steady and was the only reason he wasn't on the floor right now. "Keith, what's the matter? I barely poked you."

Keith looked up into a set of concerned eyes. "Nothing. I'm fine."

The hand bracing his side and his face contorting in pain told Lance otherwise. "Are you hurt?"

The others stopped chewing to stare at the both of them.

Looks like he had given himself away. "I got attacked yesterday on the ship. I didn't want to tell anyone."

Lance moved Keith's hand away and pulled up his shirt. He saw the bandages covering his torso, and he began to unravel them, revealing his battered chest.

Hunk made a face and Pidge and Allura were slack jawed. Lance stared in fright at his bruised chest and then their eyes met again. "I'm sorry, Keith. I didn't know."

Keith just brushed it off. "I'm fine. It's not that bad."

Allura got up to see for herself. She ran her fingers around his injury, making him wince. "I think they're broken. Keith, why would you hide this from us?"

"I don't know. It was _my_ problem to bear."

"Lance, Hunk, get him to the healing pod right away," Allura said.

Keith groaned as they lifted them to his feet. Once they arrived at the pod, they helped him get in.

"You're gonna be fine, Keith," Lance said through worried eyes. Keith gave him a small smile as they closed the door.

After several hours, the door opened and he was greeted by Allura.

"How do you feel, Keith?" she asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Much better," He said truthfully. There was some soreness in his side, but the majority of the pain had been washed away in the pod.

"Keith, be honest with me. Why did you really hide your injury? Did it have something to do with what Lance said the other day? About pain being a weakness?"

He couldn't lie to her. He nodded. "I couldn't bring myself to tell him after that. I knew he'd just make fun of me, and if I told anyone else, it would just get around to him."

There was a look of understanding in her eyes. "Lance can be playful in that kind of way. I understand, but I don't think he would've made fun of you. Promise me you'll tell us next time, okay?"

"I promise."

She left him to go return to his own room. Some time later, he heard a quiet knock at his door. "It's open."

Lance entered, looking solemn. "Hey."

"Hey," Keith said. He scooted over to make room for him on his bed, patting the seat next to him.

"I just talked to Allura. She said you didn't tell us about your injury because you thought I'd make fun of you."

Keith remained silent, wondering what he'd have to say next.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Lance. I'm better now," Keith said.

"But if it weren't for me, you wouldn't have had to suffer for so long. And just so you know, I wouldn't have made fun of you."

Keith lifted an eyebrow.

Lance chuckled. "Well, maybe just a little. I can be a jerk sometimes I guess, but I'm not _that_ big of one."

Keith laughed and was surprised that it didn't hurt.

"So, you're okay? You're feeling better?" Lance's eyes glanced his shirt.

Keith lifted his shirt so he could see. "Yeah, still sore a little, but better." He felt Lance's fingers trace his ribs in a soft pattern that tickled, going over each one gently as if he was afraid he'd break if he pushed too hard.

Lance's face was just inches from his own and he felt his hot breath against him. He hated when Lance pulled away and his fingers left his side.

"You're probably pretty tired. I'll leave you so you can sleep now," Lance said softly.

"Okay," Keith said. "And you're welcome here any time." He felt the back of his neck perspire.

Lance's face grew red with heat. "Sleep well," he said, before shutting the door.

That night, Keith slept like a baby and had really good dreams.


End file.
